Article in the Australian
THE Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating an air traffic control report that a US Learjet came within 60 seconds of a possible collision with a Jetstar Airbus because of confusion about uncontrolled airspace.
Robert Mason, the head of the air traffic control union Civil Air, last night described the incident as "very concerning" and an example of the havoc that uncontrolled airspace is causing.
However, a spokesman for the Government's air traffic control manager, Airservices Australia, played it down, saying there was "no safety occurrence and no breakdown of air traffic control safety standards".
An Electronic Safety Incident Report of the incident, written by the air traffic controller on duty and obtained by The Australian, states the incident occurred last Saturday after a section of airspace on the Melbourne to Sydney route suddenly became unmonitored at 7.30am due to an air traffic control staff shortage.
A shortage of controllers has increasingly forced large chunks of Australian skies to be left unmonitored in recent months, forcing pilots to rely on themselves and other pilots to avoid collisions.
The ESIR indicated the declaring of uncontrolled airspace on Saturday caused confusion among pilots of several aircraft.
The worst of these was when the pilot of an American-registered Learjet flying from Wollongong in NSW to Melbourne baulked at climbing up into uncontrolled airspace despite being cleared to do so. The report says the pilot failed to climb "apparently due to uncertainty with proximity traffic" in uncontrolled airspace.
As a result, the plane stayed on its course at 24,000ft, which caused it to veer into a different controlled airspace near Canberra. This alarmed controllers because Jetstar flight 720 from Hobart to Sydney was heading north at the same height, and time, through that sector.
The incident report says the Learjet was "briefly uncontactable" because the pilot was on a different frequency and that the controller was "concerned" about the risk to northbound air traffic, especially JS720.
"The two aircraft passed within 15 nautical miles abeam of each other southwest of Canberra," the ESIR said.
Mr Mason said yesterday; "Aeroplanes passing 15 miles apart may seem like a lot ... but they are travelling so fast that in some scenarios there can be less than 60 seconds to react and avoid an accident. This incident is a clear example that the current system related to (uncontrolled airspace) has an unacceptable safety level."
However, an Airservices spokesman said the 15nm separation was three times the required limit in that sector. A spokeswoman for Jetstar said the airline had not been notified about the ESIR.
CASA confirmed last night it was investigating the incident.
The Australian last week revealed warnings from air traffic controllers than many international pilots did not know the safety procedures for flying through uncontrolled airspace.
Civil Air has called for a sweeping review of the safety of passenger jets flying through uncontrolled airspace.
Few countries in the world have uncontrolled airspace. CASA maintains that flying through uncontrolled airspace -- while not ideal -- is safe, but Qantas and Jetstar pilots have been instructed to avoid flying through it when possible.